Trust Issues -- Chapters 19, 20, and Epilogue
All right, the moment you all have been waiting for has arrived. The last chapters!!! A word of warning though before you read. Next weekend, I have a school function that is mandatory I attend. I will not be able to post a new story until the weekend after. I know you are all crushed. But please try to hold your cheers of excitement after I log off. ;) Anywho on with the story... Chapter 19 The next thing they heard was two screams. One was distinctively Panthro; the other was one that no one had ever heard before. Glass shattered around them as the incredibly high-pitched wail grew deafening. Dolosa separated from her captive and continued to screech. Lion-O watched as the dark shape shifter exploded into millions of little pieces. Then all was silent. Panthro collapsed to the ground and immediately the lion went to the two downed ThunderCats. It was obvious that if Ben-Gali didn’t get help soon, he would be beyond help. Panthro was still breathing but unconscious. “WilyKat, help me. We have to get Ben-Gali to the sick bay now!” He ordered. The young cat rushed over to help. The two carefully lifted the white tiger and carried him down to the sick bay. While they walked, Ben-Gali continued to gasp for breath and blood came out of his mouth. Lion-O feared that with his lungs full of vital liquid and he would drown in himself. They walked through the doors of the sick bay and went to the first available bed. WilyKit got up from her spot next to Pumyra, who had gone as white as a sheet, and went over to them. “What happened?” She asked. “I’ll tell you after we save him.” The Lord of the ThunderCats said. The two ThunderKittens and Lion-O grabbed the Extractor. Quickly they got the Lockti’s machine into position and it began to do what it did best. The machine clicked and whirred and worked over Ben-Gali’s wounds. Other than those noises the room was silent. That is until WilyKit leaned over to Lion-O and explained Pumyra’s situation. The look on his face went sour. “How long has she been having these pains?” He asked. “For almost forty minutes.” She told him. The lion cursed under his breath. They could save Ben-Gali but it might be too late for the cub. Just as this thought crossed his mind, the Extractor stopped whirring and lay still. WilyKat and Lion-O removed the machine and quickly the Lord of the ThunderCats moved to Pumyra with it while the Kittens hooked Ben-Gali up to the battery-operated machines needed to keep track of his vitals. “What…” the puma started but Lion-O wouldn’t let her finish as he set the Extractor down. “We have to help you and your baby. Come on.” He said as he helped her up off the floor and onto a nearby bed. Then he lifted the healing machine and put it where it needed to go. Kat came over to help Lion-O and then they got the machine working. Back in the gun bay, Cheetara picked herself up and went over to Panthro. She checked his pulse to see that he did have a strong heartbeat. Then she moved over to Tygra. Glass crunched under her feet, the soles of her boots had weakened form the heat of the gun, and the broken pieces lodged in them. She cringed but continued to move. The orange tiger was speaking but she couldn’t hear what he was saying. She made it over to him and checked the cut on his forehead. The bleeding had slowed but he would need stitches. He put a hand on her shoulder and gave a small smile. She smiled back and helped him up. Carefully the two moved back toward the door. The cheetah winced as the glass in her feet became more embedded. The two made it to the opening they wanted and waited for Lion-O and the Kittens to arrive. “You get some rest, Pumyra. That’s the best you can do for yourself.” The Lord of the ThunderCats said. “Ben-Gali.” She said the sadness in her eyes broke Lion-O’s heart. He hoped that he’d been able to save both her cub and her husband. “He’s resting. I have to go get the others but Kit will be here with you. Hang in there.” Lion-O told her. The puma’s answer was to let out a sigh. “Come on Kat, we have to get Cheetara, Tygra, and Panthro, then once they are taken care of we have to get the power back on.” The lion got the young cat’s attention. “Yes, sir.” Kat nodded and followed his leader out the door. Chapter 20 It would take the ThunderCats two days to get the power back up and running. By then Ben-Gali was sitting up in bed and exercising for at least an hour a day. His strength was slowly returning and he was feeling better now that Pumyra had been checked over. Tygra was still nervous about the cub, as he wasn’t sure if the Extractor had healed the baby completely. He continued to monitor the baby’s heart rate and gave the puma a sonogram once the power came back up. The Extractor had healed the cut on his forehead quickly and he eagerly went about keeping track of his patients. Panthro had woken up a day ago and didn’t remember anything. The others had all agreed to not tell him about what the creature had made him do. As for the creature, there was no sign of it or whatever was left of it. The gun bays would take weeks if not months to rebuild along with the more permanent fuel tanks. The auxiliary tanks in the Lair’s lower levels had to be rerouted so that the fuel could flow properly past the broken tubes. Snarfer, WilyKat, and Lion-O had managed to do that much and they were rewarded by their first hot meal when Snarf cooked his famous Candy Fruit pancakes for dinner. Now Lion-O stood in the control room watching the Kittens man the controls. The big doors that led into the room and Cheetara wheeled herself in. The cuts on her feet along with the melted boots had been removed but it had been incredibly painful and walking still hurt. She had refused to be in a wheelchair but Lion-O wouldn’t hear of it. As far as her hearing, the cheetah was still having difficulties. Reading her friends’ lips had been working but she ached to hear Sahara. “Hey baby.” Her husband greeted her with a smile. She smiled back as he kissed her gently on the forehead. Hi. She mouthed. Cheetara didn’t want to talk for fear of not being able to gauge how loud she was talking. Lion-O could see the frustration in her eyes and wished he could do something for her. Tygra had had some hearing loss but regained his ability to hear the following day after the blast. Cheetara hadn’t been so lucky and it was upsetting to both of them. At night, she refused to let him see but he knew that she was crying. He could hear her sobbing. At that moment, Snarf walked through the control room doors. He was carrying Sahara. The poor little girl was screaming. She wasn’t happy at all. “I can’t get her to stop. Her toys, her binky, her favorite blanket, nothing is working.” The poor frazzled nursemaid told them. Lion-O scooped the cub up in his big strong arms and she calmed down some. “She just wanted to see her daddy.” He smiled. The little girl reached out and grabbed a tuft of her father’s bright red hair and gave it a yank. “Ouch. She has her mother’s grip.” Lion-O teased. Cheetara had seen his lips and chuckled. “How are Panthro and Snarfer doing on the repairs?” He asked Snarf. “Well when I brought up some of my famous lemonade, the two were still working on the first gun in the bay. They have replaced all the glass and they hope to get the one gun working by the end of the week.” The snarf replied. Lion-O shook his head. “Slow going. Well hopefully we can get more done soon. I’ll be joining them shortly. I have to head to the sick bay anyway.” The Lord of the ThunderCats sighed. Sahara pointed to her mother and said, “Mama.” “Of course my little one. Here we go.” Lion-O smiled and carefully handed the cub over to Cheetara. The cheetah took her daughter in her arms and the little girl smiled. Then she smacked her mother in the side of the head. Ow. Cheetara mouthed. That’s when she noticed something. “Sahara you know better than that.” Lion-O scolded. His wife shook her head. “Are you ok?” He asked Cheetara. It took her a few minutes to respond as the noises in the room came into focus. The machines beeped, the Kittens chitchat, Sahara’s giggling; she could hear it all. “Tara?” Lion-O’s voice came to her and it was the best thing she’d ever heard. “Oh Lion-O. I heard you.” She spoke for the first time in the last two days. Her husband gave her a look of astonishment. He immediately got down on his knees and wrapped his arms around both of his girls. “I love you.” He said. “I love you too.” She told him. Their happy moment was cut short when the medical alarm went off. “Lion-O, we have to get to the sick bay.” WilyKit said from her seat. The Lord of the ThunderCats quickly stood up and grabbed the handles of Cheetara’s wheelchair. “Snarf, take Sahara and stay here. Watch the screens as well, everyone else, let’s go.” He ordered. The ThunderCats split up and went to the sick bay. “What’s going on?” Lion-O asked. “I have to perform a C-section. I’ve lost the baby’s heartbeat.” Tygra told them as he applied a gas mask to Pumyra’s face. She had to be under for the procedure. “What can we do?” Cheetara asked. “I need you to monitor her breathing and Lion-O, you’ll have to help me with the surgery. Kittens, keep Ben-Gali calm. The last thing his body needs is a shock like this.” Everyone quickly did as they were told. Lion-O handed Tygra a scalpel and the tiger made the cut. Forty minutes later, the cub was in an incubator, breathing through machines. Tubes ran all over the preemies’ body. Pumyra was still out from the surgery and pain medication dripped into her from an IV. Lion-O helped Tygra clean up everything and Cheetara had moved to Ben-Gali, allowing the ThunderKittens to go back to their station. “So now what?” Lion-O asked, keeping his voice low. “We have to hope that the baby is strong enough to pull through.” Tygra sighed. “What are the chances?” The lion wondered. “About fifty-fifty right now. You weren’t able to scrub up before the surgery and I’m afraid that one of them will develop an infection. With the baby’s immune system so weak it could be fatal.” Tygra shook his head. “I didn’t handle anything with my bare hands. I threw gloves on.” Lion-O told him. “Good then the chances are better but still with surgery, infection is always a risk.” The orange tiger explained. “Can the Extractor help?” Lion-O inquired. “For Pumyra, possibly. For her cub, I’m not so sure. The poor little guy will be on his own for a long time.” Tygra told him. “So we’re out of options?” The Lord of the ThunderCats asked. “I’m afraid so. All we can do now is wait.” Tygra let out a heavy sigh. Epilogue Three months passed and slowly but surely Pumyra and Ben-Gali’s cub gained strength. No longer did the little one need to be hooked up to a breathing machine but Tygra still insisted on seeing him everyday to check his progess. The rest of the ThunderCats were once again healthy and up doing their usual tasks. Panthro, Snarfer, and Ben-Gali had managed to get everything fixed and even designed a special cover for the main fuel tanks that was energy blast resistant. Sahara was starting to walk on her own and it was quite obvious that she had inherited her mother’s speed. Lion-O joked that he now had to someone to slow Cheetara down. He usually got a jab in the ribs for that. The group now met in the sick bay for a special occasion. Pumyra and Ben-Gali had finally decided on a name for their little boy. “So what are you going to name him?” WilyKit pestered. “I’m not saying until everyone is here.” The puma smiled. “Sorry, we’re late. I have the fastest two girls around and somehow we were late.” Lion-O joked. Again he found Cheetara’s elbow in his ribs. “I’m going to have a permanent bruise there.” He chuckled which made the rest of the group chuckle. “Well since everyone is here, we might as well get on with it.” Ben-Gali beamed. “Yes please. I can’t take it anymore.” Snarf said. “All right. You all saved his life and we wanted to honor you but we figured that his name would be too long and no one would ever be able to say it right.” The white tiger started. “His name is Tyler Lynx-O Gali.” Pumyra smiled. “Excellent choice.” Lion-O nodded. “Lynx-O would be proud.” Panthro agreed. “Indeed he would.” Tygra beamed. Cheetara went over to her friend and gave her a big hug. “One day you’ll have to tell him who he is named after.” She said. “He will, trust me. He will.” Pumyra smiled and hugged her back. The End